Analysts expect Nokia to post steep Q2 loss

Analysts are expecting Nokia to announce hefty losses in Q2 later on Thursday. It all hinges on Lumia sales and they don’t appear to be growing as fast as expected.

Nokia just can’t get a break. Just as it seemed its Lumia series smartphones were starting to gain traction, Microsoft stepped in and told the world that all Windows Phone 7.x won’t be compatible with Windows Phone 8. Analysts now estimate that Nokia managed to shift 4 million units in the second quarter and that it will sell about 19 million Lumias by the end of the year.

Although it would appear Lumia sales doubled from the first quarter, it is still not enough. Apple and Samsung managed to sell 30 and 50 million phones last quarter, dwarfing the Finns in comparison.

On Wednesday Nokia shares closed at €1.37 after briefly hitting €1.33, an 18-year low for the company. Nokia shed 84 percent of its value since it embraced Windows Phone and recently the company announced that it has a backup plan in case Redmond’s OS fails.